ABC News is airing a one-hour special about the verdict in Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ high-profile New York trial on Wednesday night (July 2). The rapid turn-around Verdict: The Diddy Trial will air at 10 p.m. ET and then stream the next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. According to a release, the news special will feature expert analysis from defense attorney and ABC News legal contributor Brian Buckmire, as well as criminal trial attorney Sarah Azari, TV host and author Touré, as well as ABC News chief investigative correspondent Aaron Katersky and legal analyst Eboni K. Williams.

The show will air less than 12 hours after Combs was convicted of illegal prostitution in the closely watched case, while avoiding the most serious sex-trafficking and racketeering charges that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life. After deliberating for just over two days, a jury in New York federal court found Combs, 55, guilty on Wednesday morning of two counts of transporting sex workers across state lines to engage in prostitution as part of his dayslong sex and drug orgies referred to as “freak-offs.”

The jury returned a not guilty verdict on two charges that Combs committed sex-trafficking by forcing women — including his longtime girlfriend singer Cassie Ventura — to participate in the sex marathons or the one racketeering count that prosecutors claimed involved Combs and his team operating a criminal enterprise that allegedly included bribery, drug-dealing, arson threats, kidnapping and sexual assault.

ABC News said the prime-time look at the seven-week trial will provide “a detailed overview of the charges against the music mogul, reconstructing the most pivotal courtroom moments through comprehensive actor reenactments and taking viewers behind the verdict and what comes next for the once seemingly untouchable Sean “Diddy” Combs.”

The partial acquittal was a win for Combs, who had been facing a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and maximum term of life behind bars if he’d been found guilty of all charges. The prostitution charges carry no mandatory minimum and a maximum sentence of 20 years. Combs’ lawyers maintained their client’s innocence during the entire case, claiming that while he did engage in what they deemed regrettable domestic abuse, his employees did not act as criminal conspirators. They also argued that Ventura and another alleged victim were willing participants in the marathon sexual encounters in which the hip-hop mogul was depicted as an observer of sex acts between the women and paid male prostitutes, often recording the proceedings.

Combs did not testify during the trial and his defense team did not present any witnesses. It’s expected that they will likely appeal once a sentence is finalized. At press time it was not known if judge Arun Subramanian will grant Combs bail before sentencing; Combs has been behind bars since he was arrested by U.S. Homeland Security agents in Manhattan on Sept. 16, the same day he was indicted by a grand jury on the five felony charges.

The lengthy sentencing process could take months and is expected to include Combs sitting for an interview with the U.S. Probation Department, which will calculate sentencing guidelines based on factors including Combs’ criminal history and the seriousness of his offenses, after which Judge Subramanian will hold a sentencing at an as-yet-undetermined time. According to CNN, Combs’ attorney said on Wednesday that his client should be released immediately from detention to await his sentencing from his home in Miami. Prosecutor Maureen Comey disagreed, saying her office intends to seek prison time, noting that Combs “continued to commit a litany of crimes” after he knew he was under investigation in 2024.

This summer, two of the world’s best known and most music-obsessed contemporary visual artists are showing their seminal video works together for the first time in an unlikely setting: an empty store tucked away in a shopping mall in Croydon, in suburban South London.

And on opening night June 28, these two art-world icons — the Mississippi-born cinematographer Arthur Jafa and British video artist Mark Leckey — showed off their DJ talent as well, going back to back with epic sets at an afterparty that raged until 5 a.m.

The exhibition, “HARDCORE / LOVE,” features Arthur Jafa’s 2016 video essay “Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death,” which is soundtracked by Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) “Ultralight Beam” from The Life of Pablo, and draws on Jafa’s lengthy career as a cinematographer (Daughters of the Dust, Crooklyn, Seven Songs for Malcom X). Exploring techniques Jafa has described as efforts to unite “Black cinema with the power, beauty, and alienation of Black music,” he has since directed music videos for acts including Solange and Jay-Z.

Jafa’s work is juxtaposed in the former electronics store against Leckey’s 1999 Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, a pivotal video documenting the rise of rave culture from the 1970s to 1990s. The video is composed of footage from ’70s discos, Northern Soul dances and British raves, while its audio references Kraftwerk and staple fashion brands such as Adidas, Burberry and of course, Fiorucci. Leckey’s video has become a significant touchpoint for dance music today, having been sampled by the likes of Jamie xx, The Avalanches and referenced by 2025 Sound Of… nominee Barry Can’t Swim, and was inspired by a conversation Leckey had at the time with then ICA director Emma Dexter and Gavin Brown, Leckey and Jafa’s art dealer, about the potential for art within the genre of the music video.

Gavin Brown, currently a partner at New York’s Gladstone Gallery, wanted to launch “HARDCORE / LOVE” off the beat path in Croydon, where he was born and raised, to bring the iconic works to a place more accessible to aspiring artists who may not be able to afford rent or studio space in bigger cities.

“I went to art school in England at the tail end of a golden age where you went for free — in fact, you were given a grant. People who went then [with] little means could not afford it now. I think that is a recipe for disaster for our culture,” Brown told Billboard at the opening night reception. He hopes the exhibition in Croydon’s Whitgift Centre — at a space operated by the local alternative art school Conditions — will help raise funds to provide underprivileged artists with low-cost studio space and education. The exhibition will run until Aug. 10.

Jafa says that the show’s location jibed with his mission to make the art world accessible to as many people as possible.

“I really want people to see it,” he said of the exhibition. “My family, they don’t go to museums and stuff like that — it’s not something they do on a regular basis. We would have never seen anything like this if there wasn’t some way to deliver it to us. It’s pretty straightforward: You want people to see it, you’ve got to go where the people are.”

Leckey, meanwhile, teaches at Conditions and has collaborated with the school as part of his residency on the music-radio platform NTS, where he has hosted his own show since 2017, spinning a wide mix of experimental genres every month. Jafa also curates music on NTS, recently broadcasting a set of chopped and screwed tracks along with his own edits.

At the opening reception, Leckey reflected on the legacy of Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, saying he thought that “rave was part of a set of conditions that were very particular to the 20th century, and once the 20th century had passed — which also coincided with the transference from analog to digital — those conditions that created subculture, the rave, rock n’ roll and the rest of it basically dissipated.”

Today, he says, rap, Soundcloud music and acts such as South London artist SHEIVA look to him like the future of music, noting that these sounds “feel like they could be here [at Conditions]. That’s the kind of energy that I’m looking for.”

After the opening, Jafa and Leckey held court at the afterparty at Ormside Studios in Bermondsey, along with many current and former Conditions students, as well as Conditions co-founder Matthew Noel-Tod and celebs such as director Edward Buckles Jr. (Katrina Babies).

Jafa and Leckey played back-to-back sets for around 130 partygoers, with Jafa taking to the decks around 10:15 p.m., spinning an entrancing mix of soul and jazz cuts including Tom Jones’ “I (Who Have Nothing.” Leckey then took over to unleash a selection of rave tracks including classic Dizzee Rascal bassline, ’90s jungle and hyperpop, finishing with visceral gabber music around 11:30 p.m. The night continued with DJs including TTB, Shauwdii, Nitetrax, 370JP and Tzekin fueling the dance party until the wee hours.

Cassie‘s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, issued a public statement on Wednesday morning (July 2) following the reading of the verdict in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial in New York City.

The disgraced Bad Boy mogul faced a mixed verdict as he was convicted on two counts of prostitution but evaded more serious charges such as racketeering and sex trafficking. Diddy’s conviction comes with no mandatory minimum and a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Wigdor championed Cassie’s “unquestionable strength” for taking the stand as her bombshell civil lawsuit essentially lit the fuse for Diddy’s federal indictment.

“This entire criminal process started when our client Cassie Ventura had the courage to file her civil complaint in November 2023. Although the jury did not find Combs guilty of sex trafficking Cassie beyond a reasonable doubt, she paved the way for a jury to find him guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution,” he said in a statement to Billboard. “By coming forward with her experience, Cassie has left an indelible mark on both the entertainment industry and the fight for justice.”

He continued: “We must repeat – with no reservation – that we believe and support our client who showed exemplary courage throughout this trial. She displayed unquestionable strength and brought attention to the realities of powerful men in our orbit and the misconduct that has persisted for decades without repercussion. This case proved that change is long overdue, and we will continue to fight on behalf of survivors.”

Cassie filed an explosive lawsuit against Diddy in November 2023 accusing the New York hip-hop staple of rape and continued sexual abuse throughout their decade-plus-long relationship. The case was settled in less than 24 hours.

The “Me & U” singer took the stand for an emotional four-day testimony in May and served as a key witness for the prosecution. Footage from the alleged “freak-offs” was played for the jury, along with the 2016 hotel footage showing Diddy physically assaulting Cassie.

After drawing an acquittal on the heaviest of charges, Diddy is now awaiting sentencing for the pair of prostitution/transportation charges.

Though they were fierce chart rivals back in the ’90s and early 2000s, it’s all love between the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block these days. The one-time boy band chart competitors proved that their bond is stronger than ever on Saturday (June 28) when BSB members Howie Dorough and AJ McLean bum-rushed NKOTB’s Las Vegas residency gig at Dolby Live at Park MGM during the fifth night of the band’s current Right Stuff residency.

During the show’s “vows” bit, NKOTB’s Donnie Wahlberg asked, “how many of you thought that one day you might date a New Kid?… how many of you thought you might marry a New Kid?,” to raucous screams from the audience. The camera then zoomed in on Dorough, who was in the audience holding up a homemade “I Do” sign.

“Apparently, Howie Dorough thought he would marry a New Kid… we’re gonna fight over you Howie,” Wahlberg joked. “You were always my favorite Backstreet Boy.” Dorough was happy to play along, and in a comment on the Instagram video of the moment, the singer wrote, “Thanks for an amazing night, fellas! Still holding on to the dream I might marry one of you 😉.”

Dorough and McLean then hopped up on stage and got big hugs from their boy band brethren, with Wahlberg telling McLean, “damn, you smell good,” as fellow NKOTB member Joey McIntyre joked, “speaking of smell, I know Howie has the worst farts in the Backstreet Boys” as he embraced Dorough. “We love you guys so much,” Wahlberg said as McLean grabbed the mic and asked, “when are we going back on the road together again?”

After the excited shouts died down, Wahlberg suggested, “How about we finish Vegas, you smash the Sphere, and we team up and do it one more time?” The two groups — billed as NKOTBSB — mounted a joint North American and world tour in 2011 and 2012.

The Right Stuff residency dates march on tonight (July 2), with additional shows on Thursday (July 3) and Saturday (July 5) before the band returns for another run of gigs in November and February. Meanwhile, BSB are gearing up to launch their Into the Millennium residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere on July 11.

Check out the sweet reunion below.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has had has Australian visa canceled, says the country’s head of immigration.

According to Reuters, the country’s Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Tony Burke revealed Wednesday (July 2) that his office has taken the step following the release of antisemitic song “Heil Hitler” in May. Adding to a pattern of hate speech Ye has spewed over the years, the track featured lyrics about how the Yeezy founder “became a Nazi” and featured a recording of Adolf Hitler speaking.

“He’s made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released [that] song,” Burke told ABC. “He’s got family here … It wasn’t a visa for the purpose of concerts. It was a lower-level [visa] and the officials still looked at the law and said, ‘If you’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don’t need that in Australia.’”

The minister added, “We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”

Billboard has reached out to Ye’s rep for comment.

The news comes more than two years after the musician wed Bianca Censori, who is from Australia. Shortly after reports of their nuptials emerged, the country’s Anti Defamation Commission called on officials to bar Ye from entering the country.

“Calling for violence and hate must have consequences, and Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger who spews threats against the Jewish community and peddles conspiracy myths about Jewish power, greed and control,” said Dr. Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC, in a statement to Billboard at the time. “At a time of rising antisemitism in Australia and increasing vilification, his presence in the country, revolting anti-Jewish propaganda and incitement, and abhorrent rhetoric poses a significant risk to the Jewish community.”

The visa cancelation is just the latest consequence Ye has faced as a result of his antisemitic remarks, much of which he has shared in deeply offensive posts on X since late 2022. The Grammy winner has lost most of his major brand partnerships, and in May, he claimed that “Heil Hitler” had been banned from streaming services.

Later that month, however, Ye suggested that he had experienced a change of heart. “I am done with antisemitism,” he wrote on X. “I love all people. God forgive me for the pain I’ve caused. I forgive those who have caused me pain. Thank you God.”